Pesticides

Pesticides are undeniably good at what they’re designed to do: protect crops and our homes from damaging infestation and disease. There are insecticides for protection from insect infestations, herbicides to tackle weeds, fungicides for molds, and rodenticides for protection from—you guessed it—rodents.

Unfortunately, chemical pesticides are increasingly understood to have negative health effects in addition to a high environmental cost. Farm workers are at special risk due to regular contact with the chemicals. So are children, whose bodies absorb pesticides more easily and break them down less readily than adults.

Pesticides and Environmental Racism

Studies have shown that pesticides disproportionately harm people living in poverty and communities of color. According to the National Center for Farmworker Health, more than 80% of agriculture workers self-identify as Hispanic. Farmworkers are chronically exposed to pesticides through their widespread application on farms. In low-income communities, exposure primarily comes from the treatment of chronic pest problems that often occur in overcrowded and deteriorating housing. Additional exposure for folks living in poverty comes from food, as organic options can be cost prohibitive and land (and time) to grow their own pesticide-free food is limited. This is due to the systemic barriers put in place to create deliberate food access inequalities, food apartheid.

Pesticides and Climate Change

Chemical pesticides also take a huge environmental toll, polluting air, water, and soil. Pesticides contribute to climate change during their manufacturing process, transportation and disposal. As our climate changes, increased temperatures and droughts make crops more vulnerable to pests, which then in turn increases pesticide use.

The good news is that there's plenty you can do to reduce your consumption of pesticides!

• Peel fruits and vegetables, or scrub them under running water. For produce that's hard to scrub (like broccoli), soak in water for a few minutes, then rinse well.
• Trim excess fat off meat and the skin off poultry, as some pesticides are concentrated there. Pesticides can also be concentrated in dairy fats, so limiting fat content in dairy—particularly when not organic—can help minimize pesticide consumption.
• Eat as wide a variety of foods as you can afford to limit consumption of the same pesticide.
• If possible, grow your own food. Or join a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group that grows produce without the use of pesticides. Locate a CSA near you.
• Ask questions about growing practices and the use of pesticides at the farmers' market and your local co-op. Most farmers and co-op staff are happy to discuss how their food has been grown or raised.
• If it’s affordable for you, look for the USDA Certified Organic label on foods. This ensures the food was grown without the use of pesticides that harm human health and the environment. Read more about organics.
• Check out the list of the fruits and vegetables most and least likely to be high in pesticides, according to the Environmental Working Group’s Produce Pesticide Guide.